COUNCIL failings mean the district is missing out on crucial cash for schools, roads and parks, according to furious councillors.

The Labour-led authority has been accused of failing to prepare for recent changes to planning rules, with opposition groups saying it will now be unable to claim thousands of pounds from private developers to boost local infrastructure.

And in what is believed to be the first example of the problem taking effect, schools this week look set to lose out on £68,000 of vital funding which had been expected from a developer building homes in Eccleshill.

In February, a planning committee gave developer Gregory Projects consent to demolish the old Fitness First gym in Cavendish Road and build 29 homes, on the condition it funded various infrastructure schemes, including £121,369 for school places.

But the agreement was not signed before the systems changed, so the housing plan now has to go back before the committee on Wednesday. This time, the authority can only ask for for £52,963 towards schooling, a planners' report says.

Bradford Council's Conservative leader, Councillor Simon Cooke, said the Council had failed to act quickly enough to put the new Community Infrastructure Levy in place, ahead of its nationwide introduction in April.

He said it would now take months for Bradford to install the levy, meaning the district would lose out on infrastructure cash in the meantime.

He said: "Between now and that happening, we could see several of these kinds of applications coming in, with £50,000, £60,000, £100,000, which could have gone to support Bradford's education or indeed recreation systems, being lost.

"It really is a failure on the Council's part."

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Jeanette Sunderland said the district desperately needed funding for infrastructure as it was "crying out for school places".

She said: "The Council's failure is leading to almost a bonanza for developers."

Councillor Val Slater, the deputy Council leader and executive member for planning, said bringing in the new levy took time, as the authority needed to set the charges, hold a consultation and get the plans approved by a planning inspector.

She said this process was now under way, but officers had previously been concentrating on creating the Local Plan - a long-term development blueprint for the district - which had to come first.

She said: "We are not in the business of losing money that we could bring into Bradford but we just need to make sure we have got it right so when we go to the inspector we are not going to be challenged, because that just delays it again.

"Better to spend time getting it right rather than having things thrown out later, because that doesn't help anybody."